Woman calls out companies that trick prospective employees into accepting low salaries

A woman went viral on TikTok earlier this month after sharing an extremely relatable rant about a terrible job interview. Maysun Valles, whose video has now been viewed more than 2 million times, called out employers who justify the fact that they are underpaying their employees by claiming to offer much more than money. "Listen. I need these companies and these hiring managers to grow up and get a grip on reality. OK? I applied to a job where they didn't list the pay. That was MY fault. That was MY bad. I should know, red flag. And I can make a whole separate video about that—about how that should be illegal at this point. List the fu**ing pay... IT'S A JOB," she says in the video.

"Anyway, I go through the interview, yadda, yadda, yadda. I get to the end of the interview, and he tells me the pay. It's low. It's low. We knew this; we should've known this. And so he asks me how I'm feeling, and I'm like, 'Frankly, the pay is low, and I can't work for that. I gotta be honest.' And I brought up that the pay wasn't listed on the job listing," Valles continues. "He was like, 'Yeah, you know, here's the thing... there's a lot more here to gain than just money, and we are looking for people who are motivated by more than just money.'"

"OK. This is what I mean when I say they need to grow up. I don't know what fantasy world you're living in where people are letting you pay them in gold star stickers or whatever the fu**, but I live in the real world where people need money to survive," she points out in the video. "I did not choose this. I don't want this. I don't fu**ing want this. I don't want to have to need money, but we both know what it is. We both know the world we live in. How the fu** are you going to make me seem like the bad guy for needing fu**ing money? Grow up; get a grip..."

Valles' video struck a chord with many who pointed out how companies often offer pizza parties and similar perks to get people to forget the fact that they don't get paid enough. "I am SO tired of jobs pretending like we show up for ANY other reason than the money," wrote one TikTok user. "My landlord doesn't accept gold stars as a valid rent payment," commented another while a third shared a similar interview experience. "A hiring manager once told me that if money was my only motivation for work she felt sorry for me. I asked her how long she'd worked for free," they revealed.

Speaking to BuzzFeed, Valles—who has worked in customer service for the past few years—revealed that the interview she describes in the video was for a receptionist position. "It was frustrating to hear the hiring manager say these things because it's so far removed from the way that life actually works. Maybe money shouldn't be the only thing that motivates someone to take a particular job, but we live in a world where we need money to survive," she said. "It's kind of absurd to expect people to put aside pay when making decisions about where they're going to work. And, to be fair, a lot of these jobs don't have much more to offer in terms of how they treat their employees."

Valles added that she wishes hiring managers would understand that people have real bills that cost money to pay in their real lives. "People are not trying to be rude when asking about the pay for a job; people are trying to survive and make ends meet. The best way to let employees know that you value them and understand the value of the work they do is to pay them a fair and livable wage (at least that's a good start)," she said. "I also think job listings should be legally required to list the pay for the job. If the pay isn't listed, that already tells me something about the company. I think my ideal interview is one where it feels like the interviewer is actually trying to get to know me."

"Job hunting is difficult right now. Nowadays, pretty much all of the processes for applying to jobs is done online. Everything is automated and streamlined. You can spend a long time filling out applications and answering a company's questionnaires and personality surveys just to never hear from them again. People are tired. People just want to be treated well and valued," Valles concluded.